Comments on: Freshbooks vs. Harvest vs. Blinksale

By: Shawnee06

Shawnee06 — Sat, 21 May 2011 02:16:31 +0000

I know this post is a tad bit old..but just wanted to give an update regarding Blinksale..It appears as though now you will only pay $15.00 for Unlimited Invoicing…which is FAB!

By: Mike S.F.

Mike S.F. — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 21:15:01 +0000

Thanks for the comparison. I was going to go with Freshbooks for sole proprietor invoicing (very low volume, under 10 invoices per month). Maybe I’ll try Blinksale based on what I read here.

By: Tony Wu

Tony Wu — Wed, 02 Feb 2011 09:03:54 +0000

Hi everyone, I'd like to submit our app for your consideration: Vebio (http://www.vebio.com). In addition to having great-looking PDF templates, Vebio offers some neat extras including an integrated Punch Timer. Thanks, Tony

By: Karim

Karim — Wed, 19 Jan 2011 18:15:52 +0000

Thanks for the very informative post. I just discovered Ofuzf (ofuz.com). It provides project management, time tracking and invoicing features. What impressed me (and distinguishes it from the many others out there) is that they have an open source version that’s completely free and fully functional to install on your webserver or web host. They also offer paid plans if preferred.

If you have any thoughts on this I’d love to hear it.

Cheers

By: Arnes

Arnes — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 07:42:44 +0000

I just grabbed a Happy Thanksgiving bundle and really impressed with its interface.

Enjoying the price reductions at this Happy Thanksgiving offer as well http://curdbee.com/big/

By: Jason Frasca

Jason Frasca — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 19:16:39 +0000

Thank you for this excellent review.

As we look to upgrade from cashboard, this gives great insight into what the next “step up” offers…

Looking to test Harvest 1st.

By: Alan

Alan — Fri, 29 Oct 2010 13:50:12 +0000

Thanks for the nice review. I’ve found a new one that seems promising and relatively inexpensive: Paymo.biz. I would like to see how this measures up to Freshbooks and Harvest.

By: merlin greenberg

merlin greenberg — Fri, 15 Oct 2010 18:20:30 +0000

Freshbooks looks cool, has many features… but they have Security and Privacy problems that make it hard to recommend.

A) Security: Their External Link feature sends “authentication tokens” that never expire over the public internet mail system. These tokens are sent with each invoice email that gooes out, and allow anyone that has the token to access the account and see all transactions in the account without authenticating. Read my posts on their forums. They refuse to consider it a security problem. The justify the use to the clear-text token emails by saying it is a balance of convenience for some customers. But this is turned on by default, and 99% of the users have no idea of the downsides of its implimentation. These tokens never expire, do not require identity authentication, breaches are not logged, and can’t be turned off unless you delete accounting data or turn the entire feature off globally in the account.

B) Privacy: Freshbooks allows anyone with your email address in hand, to go to their home page and enter your address and be provided with a list of all of your vendors you have ever done business with. No challenge for credentials is ever presented, and you get access to al of this social-engineering fodder for free — just enter an email and you are good to go.

I wish they would address these weaknesses, as the rest of the app seems great. They like to tout their encryption and they love to make you feel secure, but if you read their fine print in the privacy policy and their user agreements, you will realize that the burden of protection is on the users. In fact, just by using the service you agree to “defend Freshbooks and hold them harmless” in any even that might occur from your use or your customer’s use of the system. Read for yourself….

http://www.freshbooks.com/terms-of-service.php

Here is a quote: “You shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless FreshBooks and the other Released Parties from any loss, damages, liabilities, costs, expenses, claims and proceedings arising out of your use of the Site, and if you are a Subscriber, from your Customers’ use of the Site”

By: Andy

Andy — Thu, 07 Oct 2010 11:01:57 +0000

I have tried various cloud based invoicing apps for my business and keep exploring more options. One application that has really impressed me with its features and interface is Invoicera (http://www.invoicera.com). Have just started to use it and it is good.
Cheers!

By: Lauren Kuhlman

Lauren Kuhlman — Sun, 08 Aug 2010 21:59:16 +0000

I have tried BallPark, Harvest and Freshbooks (in that order) and love Harvest the most. My primary reason is the slickness of the reports is generates. I am a freelance software developer with limited design ability and resources so its nice for this to just work. It’s the best $12 I spend every month (Basecamp comes in second). My only gripe (and its a big one) is that there should be an option to switch from duration to start/end time entry on each time entry. Now, I have to switch to the manage account screen, click edit, change the option, save, refresh my timesheet enter time, and repeat to switch from one to the other.